What to Do!

What to Do!

BR Chitwood

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With aging comes the discoloring and blurry marks of a young man with an early validity of truth and dishonor, mixed with raw eruptions of anger by parents decimated by a busted economy and harsh living standards. It is often that I cowardly sneak a peek back on those early days when families were wandering in a ‘mine field’ of bigotry, corruption, wars, and hatred…all bets were off when the Japanese bombed our airfields in Honolulu on most beautiful spots on earth.

My Uncle Charles Chitwood was stationed at Hickam Field on the big island Oahu, a ‘belly gunner’, and he survived the attack – but the scars never went away. In many ways, his life and his world changed on that fateful day…the ‘chip’ never left his shoulder, and he had several negative contacts with law enforcement.

Today, Oahu has back its charm, its sun, and its beaches, and the many sailors who went down with the ‘Arizona’…how sad it is to re-open that painful phase of our history. As a kid I sat on a window seat in the boarding house living room where my mother was the cook and friend of the owner. I remember the sad and troubled faces who sat and listened to FDR’s depiction of the carnage in Honolulu and how the Japanese ‘would pay a huge price for this terrible act of aggression.

I’ve been to Hawaii a number of times since that fateful day of December 7, 1941, still serene, still one of the most beautiful set of islands in the world.

‘Sneaky’, ‘aggressive’, unspeakably scheduled for the early morning rise of our military personnel on that fateful Sunday morning, There is no reason for anyone to forget ,this ‘Sunday Slaughter’, and there is still in our day the minds and hearts of people who remember a somewhat somber recollection of that terrible event on God’s Holy Day. In the minds of many, there is still a narrow degree of hatred for the Japanese, softened by time.

Of course, there have been evil-minded leaders of the past who have a penchant for hatred – even, if it is based on color-shades, slanted eyes…hatred, in fact, comes too easily for some. If you read your newspapers and watch your evening news, you know this to be the truth.

Why do I write this particular post? Mainly, because I felt the need, my mind going through a patchwork set  of thinking…wondering why we are made the way we are, with mixtures of pious hope, pity, anger, IQs that cannot compete in the world of commerce, ideas, and the miracles that good people can do.

Let others build the fox-holes and the hatred. Let us stand firm on some basic and simple truths: ‘Love thy neighbor’ (at least, try to ‘like them’), give Faith, Hope, and Charity a chance.

Difficult in our world?

No doubt about it!

Walk away from trouble! don’t invite it!

Honest Politicians! I have to believe we have a few of those… Maybe (forget ‘the pig’s eye’!) we can still find those honest politicians who stand for Freedom, Liberty, and our forefathers’ labor to create a nation that allows entry to our country of those who share our beliefs.

There is no charge for ‘Hope’, ‘Charity’, and ‘Common Sense’!

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BR Chitwood

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My 20 books in many genres, my 500+ blog posts, my Short Stories, my Flash Fiction pieces, and my Poetry are on my Web site:

https://www.billyraychitwood.com

or

https://www.brchitwood.com

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